Had an issue a few weekends ago where my side curtains popped while cornering on the track. Opened a case with GM and was told yesterday basically too bad you modified the car and had damage to the front end. The "damage" was grass that caught on my front splitter as I drove off the track into the grass to avoid being run over. (I told all this to the Raytheon engineer that examined my car.)

So I asked the customer rep if the air bag system in the ZL1 and 1LE is the same as the SS. She had no clue what I was even talking about. Basically a waste of time. So you guys ordering a 1LE think you're getting a "track" car. Yeah I would be careful with that one. First time you aggressively drive the car and your air bags pop, GM will tell you sorry the car was doing what it was supposed to. I was told basically the car thought a rollover was eminent and it did what it was designed to do. After doing web searches for air bag problems I encountered a statement by GM. "In May, GM recalled 4,304 2013 Chevrolet Malibus to reprogram the airbag sensing and diagnostic module, which detects whether crash forces are sufficient to deploy the airbags. In the recall, which began in June, GM said that after hard braking, the module can "reset itself" and cause the curtain airbags to deploy "during an aggressive turning maneuver."

I have driven this particular corner over 100 times. Likely my problem was the hard braking before the turn. The way you're supposed to drive on a track. I'll accept the fact my car's suspension is modded, and maybe that contributed to it so. I accept that I eat the repairs. Thing is other than being lower than a 1LE, I have a similar setup, i.e. tire width, stiffer bushings, etc. So time will tell what happens once these cars hit the track. So don't try to sell a "track" car unless you're willing to back it up GM. BTW, this was during an HPDE event with a Shelby club. Have yet to see a Mustang exhibit this problem. They were having a field day ripping on GM that day.

You're not the first person this has happened to. Deep inside Camaro 5 there is a thread somewhere of this happening and a youtube video. I would suspect that the engineers took the high G capability of the 1LE in account when programming the airbag sensors, but haven't heard anything. Im wonder if any ZL1 guys have had a problem. This is something that it would be nice to hear from GM on.

You're not the first person this has happened to. Deep inside Camaro 5 there is a thread somewhere of this happening and a youtube video. I would suspect that the engineers took the high G capability of the 1LE in account when programming the airbag sensors, but haven't heard anything. Im wonder if any ZL1 guys have had a problem. This is something that it would be nice to hear from GM on.

I don't know .... the track videos on the 1LE don't show this egregious amount of smoking tires when on the track. I'm not saying the airbags should have deployed but isn't this video a corner (no pun intended) case?

It happened at Camaro5fest in Arizona on one of the Bondurant Camaros that was doing hot laps...A CTS V doing autocross at the Hot Rod Power Tour this year had all the side air bags deploy on the passenger side...so it does happen on occasion...

I would think this would be covered under warranty for false deployment.

No, already went this route with GM Customer Service. They are covering their asses and divulging nothing of what caused it. They have an engineering report on the data gathered from the car, but refuse to let me see it unless I subpoena it. Their standard answer is the car thought a rollover was eminent and the air bags deployed. I'm sure if I got a lawyer and spend $$$ I might get an answer. But the end result would likely still be a refusal to pay up. So cutting my losses and paying for it myself

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim968

I wonder if it's possible to disable the airbags via fuse/relay pulls prior to going out on track.

I stopped by the dealer today to get the ball rolling on repair. I asked the service rep if there is a way to disable the system while using the car on the track. He talked with the Corvette expert who also works on the Camaros and told me there is. Of course, it will be unofficial and he'll deny they ever said anything. Obviously they are not going to tell people how to do this and have some idiot drive on the street with it disabled and get into an accident.

My whole point in starting this thread is to warn you guys about driving the Camaro on the track. While GM may be advertising the 1LE as a track car, the definition of what a track car is in their eyes needs to be clarified. I know how aggressive I drive and how aggressive the Ford guys I drove with are. They don't seem to have any problems. It's not like I was drifting my car or hit something, or went off the track when this happened. I learned a lesson the hard way and that's the Camaro SS is not a track car for even occasional road course. The air bag system on the Camaro is like running a foot race with a rope tied around your ankles. If you run too fast, you're gonna trip.

So the $1m question is...what's this going to cost you? What parts get wrecked?

I'll know in a day or two. Initial guess is between $5 and $8k. The dealer had recently fixed a Suburban with blown side curtains. His cost was 8k. There's a lot of labor involved in getting to all the parts needing to be replaced.

My buddy has this happen on is 08 Chev 1500 and it was 6500$ to fix. Went around a corner, was icy hit the curb, no damage to truck other then his rim (24") and side curtains came down even tho no damage to the truck was done.